The Witchwood is Hearthstone's New Gilneas-Themed Expansion

Hearthstone just announced the first expansion for Year of the Raven: The Witchwood. This eerie expansion focuses on a mysterious threat lurking in the forests of Gilneas and features the new keywords Echo and Rush. Pre-orders are open as usual and grant 70 cards instead of the usual 50 for the same price!

Since we love all things WoW-related we're highlighting the announcement here, but be sure to check out our sister site Hearthstone Top Decks for more information on the next Hearthstone expansion such as card backs, mechanics, and pre-order info.

Trailers

Official Announcement

Blizzard

Trailer Description

The city of Gilneas once lived in uneasy peace with the sprawling, ancient forest that looms beyond its walls. That was before a darkness began to fester in the heart of the forest. . . .

Before the curse of The Witchwood!

A sunless gloom now cloaks winding trails as gnarled branches claw hungrily at passersby. Terrified travelers speak of misshapen shadows flickering in an unearthly mist. In the witching hours, eerie figures are seen stalking the narrow alleys and foggy, cobble-stoned streets of the city itself!

Join Gilneas’ bravest heroes they hunt for the source of the dreadful curse in Hearthstone’s latest expansion! Whatever lurks in the heart of The Witchwood will soon discover that it has bitten off more than it can chew—the people of Gilneas bite back.

Much awaits the valiant hunters who will brave the The Witchwood:

• Legendary minions that empower your Hero Power—if you dare to build a deck containing only even- or odd-cost cards. • Two new keywords: Echo and Rush • Monster Hunt: FREE repeatable single-player experience where everything you need is provided! • In total, 135 new cards to add to your collection!

Pre-purchase The Witchwood to receive a special 50 card pack bundle, as well as the In a Dark Wood card back and 20 more The Witchwood card packs as a bonus!Claim a random Class Legendary and three card packs for free just for logging in after The Witchwood arrives!

Prepare for the hunt—The Witchwood releases mid-April 2018!

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Hush, brave heroes, and take heed; you tread on dangerous ground. See how the light dims all around, and moving shadows creep? The Witchwood calls, but I implore: do not its treasures seek! Stay where it’s safe, pull up a chair, let’s play another round! I see, your minds are quite made up; please hear me importune: Keep your decks close, and your wits sharp…

lest the Witchwood be your doom!

Cards

Those who have ventured into the Witchwood (and made it back in one piece) whisper of creatures twisted by terrible curses, of dark magics practiced under a gibbous moon, and unearthly howls that chill the blood of even the most stalwart heroes. Here, have a taste of what’s in store for you in this most accursed place.

Keywords

Echo: Echo cards can be played multiple times on the turn you play them. Each time, it’ll add a ghostly copy of the card back to your hand that disappears at the end of your turn.

Rush: Minions with the Rush keyword can attack other minions immediately after they hit the board, either by being played or summoned. They cannot attack heroes until the turn after they enter play, however.

Monster Hunt

Deep within the woods, an evil presence stirs. A curse has fallen on the Witchwood. You must venture into the forest and root out this foul darkness once and for all. But, beware; strange howls pierce the moonlit night, and fearsome creatures prowl the gloom among the ancient trees and gnarled firs. Hold fast, and let courage see you through this night!

Explore the Witchwood: When you start a new Monster Hunt, you venture into the Witchwood as one of four unique new heroes exclusive to this game mode. Your goal is to fight through a series of eight ever more challenging encounters culminating in an epic showdown with a challenging boss fight.

Unique Heroes: Each of the four new heroes has access to a special hero power and cards that create completely new playstyles and strategies. Their powers are great, but you will need all the help you can get against the Witchwood’s fiendish foes.

Gear Up: After you beat an encounter, you choose loot to improve your Monster Hunt deck. Your choice is between three sets of three cards picked randomly from a number of different thematic buckets available to your current hero. Additionally, at certain intervals you get to add special cards to your deck that improve your unique hero power or otherwise synergize with your hero in a powerful way.

The Witchwood Calls

Four heroes to the Witchwood wentTo hunt a monstrous foeSo brave and true was their intentAnd still they were brought low.

One brought his guns, one brought his houndsOne brought a bag of tricksOne twisted time, round after round,And still their plan was nixed.

Four heroes to the Witchwood wentBut darkness soon did fallThe hunters now the hunted wereAnd the Witchwood claimed them all.

Press Release

Something spooky is stirring in the heart of The Witchwood™, the next expansion for Hearthstone®, Blizzard Entertainment’s smash-hit digital card game. Next month, those cunning and courageous enough to hunt down monsters and outwit witches can claim their bounty in the form of 135 hair-raising new cards, complete with some uncanny new gameplay mechanics.

Dark magic has twisted the creatures of the forest and set them loose upon the Gilnean capital in Azeroth, but King Genn Greymane and his lycanthropic subjects won’t make for easy prey. The citizens of this proud kingdom, who can shapeshift into ferocious wolf-beasts known as worgen, are bringing the fight to The Witchwood with tooth and claw—and soon, Hearthstone players will join the pack and help them face down the horrors within.

To help them survive the night, players can draw on an arsenal of new tricks, including the eerie new Echo keyword. Cards with Echo can be played over and over again, allowing players to call upon a minion or cast a spell multiple times in a turn as long as they have enough mana. In addition, crafty deck-builders can employ powerful minions that challenge them to use only odd- or even-cost cards in exchange for a potent advantage.

Once the expansion is released, players will have two weeks to arm themselves before embarking on Monster Hunts—the thrilling new single-player Hearthstone experience that will send players deep into The Witchwood to stamp out the evils that lurk within. The leaders of Gilneas are finalizing preparations for these expeditions, and will share more details in the weeks to come.

Coming in April to Windows® and Mac® PCs; Windows, iOS, and Android™ tablets; and mobile phones, The Witchwood card packs will be winnable in Hearthstone’s Arena mode, and players can purchase them with in-game gold or real money at the same prices as Hearthstone’s other card packs. Starting today and up until the expansion is released, allies of Gilneas can pre-purchase The Witchwood card packs in a special 50-pack bundle that also includes 20 bonus packs, as well as the “In a Dark Wood” card back for free. This one-time-only bundle is available on any platform for $49.99 (one purchase per account).

Prepare for the hunt at TheWitchwood.com.

Origins in Warcraft

Gilneas is the Worgen starting zone. Check out quests and screenshots on our database page!

Gilneas, once a human kingdom, was isolated from the rest of the world ever since the Second War. It is now home of Genn Graymane's worgen who have re-joined the Alliance once again since the Forsaken invasion and the Cataclysm wrecked their kingdom.

Gilneas is a worgen-only leveling zone that relies heavily upon phasing. The starting zone covers how the player transforms into a Worgen, later aiding Graymane in trying to protect his kingdom from Sylvanas.

The trailer has visual similarities to the Blackwald, a forest in Southern Gilneas home to the Druids of the Scythe and first Worgen. Compare this concept art of Blackwald by Mark Gibbons to this still from the Witchwood Trailer (thanks to MyMindWontQuiet for the tip):

One of the defining characteristics of the Worgen race in WoW is the ability to change between human and worg forms (Alternative Gestalt). You can see a transformation towards the end of The Witchwood trailer!

The Worgen are a cursed race comprised of the people of Gilneas who have been afflicted by an ancient druidic curse, causing them to transform into deadly half-worg half-men. After many attempts at developing a cure, the infected people of Gilneas have managed to keep their mind and consciousness and have been sworn into the Alliance to battle the Forsaken threat that ravages their land.

Racials:

Anomalie: Reduces Shadow and Nature damage taken by 1%.Alternative Gestalt: Enables Worgens to switch between human and Worgan formsFinstere Pfade: Activates your true form, increasing current movement speed by an additional 40% for 10 sec.Schinder: Skinning skill increased by 15 and allows you to skin faster.Wilde Hatz: Drop to all fours to run as fast as a wild animal.Zwei Gestalten: Turn into your currently inactive form.Garstigkeit: Increases critical strike chance by 1%.

The timing also seems quite fitting with all the discussion surrounding the spooky forests and Druidic magic of Kul Tiras! Last week we speculated on Kul Tiras Druids and earlier we quested through Drustvar.

Genn Greymane has played an increasingly larger role in Legion and the BFA alpha, and now he's a new Legendary in Hearthstone. What other Gilneas characters would you like to see as cards?

Kommentar von Reignac

Kommentar von Pharuned

on 2018-03-12T15:50:50-05:00

I went to The Witchwood in WoW just now. It's in Highmountain. There were a few harpies and some rotting bears. Although the woods in Gilneas is called the Northgate Woods, so I guess I can see why they didn't go with that.

Kommentar von Renuts

on 2018-03-12T17:46:57-05:00

So very cool, I love the theme, and that art is great too.

Kommentar von Tromell

on 2018-03-12T17:59:24-05:00

Hello Guys!

Is it possible to know who sings this magnificent "little" song for this magnificent expansion?

i'm so curious! *_*

Kommentar von selkie47

on 2018-03-12T19:50:31-05:00

Here's to hoping that the HS xpac ushers in Certain Needed Changes to Certain Characters in WoW....

Kommentar von Squet

on 2018-03-12T20:25:05-05:00

Here's to hoping that the HS xpac ushers in Certain Needed Changes to Certain Characters in WoW....

Would be nice if a certain city got some love in BFA too, it's one of the best zones in game imo